BIO
Although not a native of Los Angeles, Farid Hassanpour considers LA home. A first-generation immigrant, Farid completed his education at UCLA, and after attending medical school in Iowa, returned to Southern California. He trained as a pediatrician and has been working in the medical field for over 20 years. His interest in photography started while in college, in the age of films, dark rooms and projection slides. This interest had to take a back seat to medical school and building a practice until the pandemic, during which Farid took the opportunity to work on his photography. Farid is married with two adult sons.
STATEMENT
My interest in street photography started with a workshop I took in the subject. Before that I didn’t even know of the genre. I found street photography more difficult than I initially assumed. Since I like a challenge and the opportunity to learn new things, I dove right in. I read many books, learned about the masters and took more classes. Street photography is a way to document the street, the lives, the human interactions and emotions, and the physical urban landscapes as they are in that moment. And those things are constantly changing. This should be captured for posterity. At any given time, there are events, gatherings, and bustling neighborhoods with people going about their business in many corners of LA. I try to capture this diversity and vitality in my pictures. There are many places to be, and many pictures to take in this great city.